It’s been almost a month since Donald Trump took the oath of office and was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Over that time, we’ve quickly learned why Democrats in California are panicked beyond belief – it seems they don’t fear Trump as much as they fear that his policies and successes will show Californians how out of step they really are with average men, women and families.

I was wondering why Democrats would be freaking out about union bosses coming out of the White House happy that jobs were being created. I was wondering why Democrats were upset about the president releasing a workable exit strategy to the Obamacare disaster.

Then it hit me. And it suddenly made sense.

For the past 8 years, California voters haven’t questioned the radical liberal policies being proposed, passed and enacted in Sacramento because those policies were exactly the policies that were being adopted and implemented by the Obama Administration.

In another sense, Californians haven’t realized how out of step their state leaders were with common sense because everybody in Washington seemed to be saying and proposing the same things.

President Trump, I believe, scares Democrats because it’s the political equivalent of taking a child who has lived his or her whole life never knowing anything but oppression and dictatorship and then putting that child onto Main Street in Disneyland suddenly faced with choices, opportunity, freedom and the chance for happiness.

With the emergence of a fresh viewpoint and a leader willing to take action on policies he campaigned on, Donald Trump is showing California voters what could be possible if the liberals just stopped putting roadblocks and barriers in the way of the private sector.

Simply put, Democrats in Sacramento are terrified that Donald Trump’s successes on the national stage will put a spotlight on the failed liberal policies California has embraced for the past eight years.

I suspect that Democrats in power are very concerned about the public waking up and suddenly realizing that life doesn’t have to be like it has been for years.

The election of Donald Trump has shown that change is possible, and change may actually be good.

Good for the economy.

Good for the environment.

Good for working families across the state.

If President Trump succeeds, America will get back to work and the lives of real people will improve. If that happens, people in California may start to realize that the liberal policies that have prevented significant economic expansion aren’t truly reflective of their values and Democrats will start to lose elections.

The best thing, I believe, that can happen for conservatives in California is for Trump to succeed. Then maybe our state’s Democrats will be forced to rethink their policies that have made our state the worst in the country to start or expand a business, build a life and raise a family.

If the rest of America reaps the benefits of a Trump economic recovery, Californians may just wake up enough to pay attention to the failures brought to us by the liberal Democrats in charge of our state government.

Jeff Stone represents California’s 28th Senate District, which includes the Coachella Valley. Email him via

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